The Love of Magnus and Alec
by ReKoJ
Summary: This is 100 ficlets all about Magnus and Alec. They can be read as one shots.
1. Chapter 1

Alec and Magnus knew that the road they were headed down was a bumpy one. Magnus remembered a conversation that he had Alec had, just before he told his parents that he was in love with Magnus. It was frowned upon because Magnus was another man but it could be an uncertain death sentence because Magnus was a warlock. He wanted to make sure that Alexander knew exactly what he wase getting into, and the consequences of his actions.

Alec had come to spend the night—a common occurrence these days. Normally Alec would come in, drop his stuff by the door and all but fall into the waiting embrace of his warlock. That night, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. He stood by the couch, unsure as to whether he should sit or not.

"Magnus?" His voice was full of concern and worry.

Magnus smiled, his glamoured eyes revealing nothing. "Yes Sayang?"

"What's wrong? And don't say 'nothing'."

Magnus turned so that he was looking at Alec. "I just worry that you haven't thought this through."

Alec sat beside the older man, grabbing his hand, entwining their fingers. "I have. I want you; I want to be with you. I'll do whatever I have to; to make that happen."

Magnus shook his head. "What if the price is higher than I'm willing to let you pay? I don't want you sacrificing yourself for me."

Alec smiled; whoever had said that downworlders were uncaring had certainly never met Magnus. After everything that he'd been through—his number one concern was still Alexander. Alec sat, holding his warlock's hand, placing the hand near his mouth and kissing the knuckles. "Nothing bad is going to happen—to either of us."

Magnus had given him a weak smile. Alec squeezed the hand that he was holding. "I think that you can do better than that."

"I didn't want to show you this but I guess I'd better." From the inside pocket of his jacket he was wearing he produced a letter. It had the official stamp of the Clave, without meeting his lover's gaze he handed Alec the letter.

Alec was still holding Magnus' right hand as he skimmed through the letter. "Magnus, according to this the clave wants to meet with you."

"I know." Magnus was still looking at the ground.

"Tomorrow."

"I know." Magnus felt miserable. He took a deep breath in a desperate attempt to get the unshed tears that were burning at the back of his eyes to leave, instead the first one fell.

Alec squeezed the hand that he was holding as he pulled the warlock against his chest. "I'm going with you. Whatever the clave wants, we'll face it together."

Magnus offered a weak smile and not for the first time thanked whatever force had put them together.

The next morning Alec watched as Magnus dressed, he did this with none of his usual flair. He was dressed in black dress pants with a black button-down shirt. He wore no make up, his eyes were unglamoured and the only jewelry he wore was a blue ring and his ear cuff.

Alec stood beside his boyfriend. "Don't worry. With me standing beside you, they will have no choice but to listen." As he wrapped his arms around his warlock, he could feel Magnus tense. Alec knew that Magnus had just thought of a new worry.

"What if they won't let you in?"

Alec gently kissed behind Magnus' ear. "I would love to see them try and stop me."

A few hours later and Magnus stood in the middle of the circle of Clave members. Each of them looking smugly at him. Alec had to admit if Magnus was scared he wasn't showing it. He stood with his hands clasped in front of him and his head held high, looking every bit the high warlock he was.

"Warlock Bane." The inquisitor announced.

"Yes?"

"You are hereby charged with unlawfully breaking the accords."

Alec couldn't believe his ears. He stood up, walking across the floor and standing behind Magnus.

"Mr. Lightwood, return to your seat."

"Absolutely not. On what grounds has the charge against Magnus Bane stand?"

"The unlawful summoning of a demon for financial gain."

Magnus scoffed. "That is without a doubt the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. The last time that I summoned a demon for anyone, it was for Elizabeth Ravenblood, at the request of the clave."

One of the Clave members sneered; obviously thinking that he'd trapped Magnus. "Everyone knows what type of business you engage in; and your lengthy list of clients."

"That's low, even for you. Each one of my 'clients' had gone through the clave to find me. I hide nothing, my activities are always widely known."

The Inquisitor stood. "Be that as it may, you have not always been overly co-operative. The clave has made a unanimous decision to start cracking down on downworlders who gray the areas of the law. If you do not agree to our terms life shall become increasingly difficult for you."

Magnus inclined his head; never breaking eye contact with the inquisitor. Alec was the only one that saw the small ball of blue magic being formed between his closed hands; the only sign that he was nervous.

"You'll be required to assimilate into the mundane culture—let your magic go dormant."

Alec had to stop his jaw from dropping. This was without a doubt the most ridiculous thing he'd heard in a while. "I beg the clave to reconsider. Magnus Bane has always been there for the clave when they needed use of his magic, to have him go dormant would be a loss to everyone."

"Are you seriously sticking up for the warlock, Lightwood? Despite the fact that he's nothing but a filthy downworlder?"

Magnus dropped his gaze. For the first time since the meeting started Magnus could feel his perfectly placed mask start to crack.

"Enough." Alec put his hands over Magnus', which had dropped to his sides and he felt how badly they were shaking.

Magnus took a deep breath and then another, calming himself. "It isn't as simple as just allowing my magic to go to dormant. Right now, it is one of the only things keeping your wards from completely failing."

The clave seemed to consider what he said. "Alright, you can keep practicing your magic but any client business will be conducted under the supervision of a shadow hunter. Is that understood?"

Before Magnus could respond, a younger shadow hunter had stood up. "This is starting to get annoying. Why is Alexander Lightwood hell bent on sticking for a filthy warlock anyway? If I were in charge he would be stripped of his marks and the warlock killed."

Alec scoffed. "And that is precisely why you are not in charge. Haven't you heard anything that Magnus has said? Never mind the fact that he sits on the council as the representative of the warlocks. If it were up to you we'd be faced with another war. Magnus has never done anything to break the law—the fact that he is the only warlock willing to deal with the clave or shadow hunters; should tell you something."

Robert Lightwood, couldn't help but smile at his son. He'd been very concerned that their relationship was either one sided or that Magnus was using him for something, but he'd seen the way that Alec held his hands; there love was real and deeper than most marriages.

Alec turned as if to walk out, he was still holding Magnus' hand, which was cold and shaking.

The Inquisitor nodded. "Very well, things can be left as they are."

Magnus offered Alec a weak smile as they both walked out of the meeting hall. Magnus had to fight the urge to turn around and stick out his tongue.


	2. Nightmares

Alec knew about Magnus' nightmares long before the warlock had said anything. He didn't have to. Alec had just come home from a mission with Jace. When a mission ran late it was not unusual for the warlock not to wait up, what had put him on edge was the fact that his warlock was laying on the couch, practically curled in on himself, his magic seemed to be coming from him in waves and most of the objects that were on the floor were floating, anything that was liquid was bubbling, almost like it was boiling (although last Alec checked wine didn't boil), and it was with alarm that Alec realized that Magnus was holding his breath.

Alec approached the dark haired man carefully. He wanted nothing more than to chase away whatever bad dreams were plaguing his warlock. He watched as Magnus' face twisted in pain and he moaned. Alec sat on the floor near the couch and lightly touched Magnus' arm, watching his face; that was when he noticed the tears slowly making their way down his cheeks.

"Come on, Mags. Wake up. It's only a dream, you're really very safe. You're at home in your own apartment. Just breath for me." The entire time he spoke he was running his fingers up and down the other man's arm. He was relieved when he saw Magnus' chest rise and fall with his intake of air.

Alec continued to soothingly touch his arm and tell him in gentle tones that he was alright and that everything was fine. He let out a breath that he hadn't been aware that he was holding when he looked at Magnus' face and saw amber cat eyes staring back at him.

"Are you alright Magnus?" Alec entwined his fingers with Magnus' right hand and felt him shaking.

Magnus drew in a shaky breath, briefly closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to get himself under some semblance of control. "of course Alexander." He was trying very hard to control the unevenness of his voice.

Alec offered him a gentle (and what he had hoped was a comforting) smile. "You don't need to be brave with me."

Magnus gave an uneasy laugh. "It was just a bad dream; nothing to get flustered over. I get them, probably more often than I'd like to admit. When you've lived as long as I have; there is a good chance that you've been through some things that would cause nightmares."

Alec sat beside the still shaking warlock. There was a fear in his eyes that Alec had never seen before and he immediately decided that he didn't like it. He rubbed his hand down the warlock's back, to find it damp with sweat. "Magnus, I don't think that you are being completely honest with me."

Magnus dropped his gaze, letting Alec know that he was right. He heard Alec sigh and closed his eyes, allowing the first tear to fall.

Alec thumbed the tear away. "Mags, look at me." He didn't speak again until there were two amber eyes, looking up at him. "I'm not mad, I'm worried. If there is something that has happened in your life that is still affecting you, I want to know about it. I don't want you to feel as though you have to hide bits of yourself because you're worried about scaring me. Okay?"

Magnus held Alec's hand as tightly as he dared, the last thing that he wanted to do was hurt his precious angel. He took a deep breath. "After Ragnor had first found me and helped me stop the earthquake that I was causing, I ran from him. I know that it was a childish thing to do but you have to understand, I was scared of myself but I was more terrified of what he might ask of me in return. I left my village and tried to settle in the next one. But the news of the devil's child with strange eyes had traveled fast. One of the locals had found me and began throwing rocks and sticks; anything that he could find. By the time that Ragnor had found me again, I was bloody and unconscious. The attackers were gone, probably believing me to be dead."

Alec kissed the knuckles of the hand that he was holding; relishing in the fact that Magnus was always warm. "That's awful. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. You have my word." He didn't know what else to say as Magnus burst into a fresh batch of tears.

Magnus couldn't bring himself to look into Alexander's eyes; he was ashamed; he was nearly 500 years old—he shouldn't still be as affected by events centuries old. He'd known warlock's that had been through worse. In the end, Magnus just pulled his knees up to his chest, laying his head on them, not willing to look up, he wouldn't be able to bare the look of disgust or disappointment that he was sure was on Alec's face.

Alexander knew that there were events in Magnus' past that he'd like to forget. It was only a matter of time before they started to surface. He watched his warlock's shaking form, almost at a loss as to what he should do, in the end he practically picked the warlock up, arranging him in his lap as he rubbed circles on his back. Neither of them spoke until the sobs stopped.

Magnus finally looked at his shadow hunter, his eyes full of tears. "You must think me so weak."

Alec tipped the warlock's head back, to place a small kiss on his lips, it was soft and tender. "Absolutely not." When the tears started again Alec resumed rubbing the older man's back. "Hey. Hey. Calm down, they can't hurt you anymore."

For the longest time Magnus just sat in Alec's lap, head on the shadow hunters chest as Magnus seemed impossibly small. After the sobbing stopped, Alec looked down to see his warlock tear-stained but asleep. Right then, Alec decided that he would make it his life's mission to make sure that Magnus was never hurt like that ever again.


	3. To Grow Old or To Live Forever

Once again, Alexander and Magnus had another fight over his immortality. It was an argument that they'd had before—they almost broke up for good over it. And now, he sat in his loft—wondering if Alec was going to come back. True, the fight they had this time wasn't as bad as some of their others had been, but he hated seeing his Alexander so upset.

He looked up to see his father standing in front of him. He had no idea what Asmodeus was doing there and his knee jerk reaction had been to dismiss it as a figment of his imagination.

"Do you really think he's going to stick around?" Asmodeus' tone was bored. "Or a better question would be, do you really think that you're going to stick around for the duration of his life? What happens when that pretty shadow hunter of yours becomes old- gets gray hair, wrinkles—what happens when he starts to age and you continue to look exactly the same?"

Magnus pretended to be unaffected by the demon's words. "If you have a point, I really wish that you'd get to it." He examined the blue nail polish that he'd put on that morning out of boredom, wishing that the demon would just leave,

Asmodeus smiled; it was the same demented, menacing smile he always gave. He was suddenly looming over the warlock, he put his hand around the warlock's throat and pulled him so that he was standing (or at least he would have been if the demon hadn't been holding him off the ground). His smile widened as he read the fear in his child's eyes. "I'm offering you a chance to live a normal life with your shadow hunter. I can take your immortality." Magnus opened his mouth to protest but the demon silenced him with a stare. "Not like before. If you willingly give me your immortality, not under duress, I will be nice to you. I will just take it, you will begin to age at a normal rate. Think about it. A normal life span with the man that you claim to love. No watching him grow old and die, no watching all the people you 'love'," he put the quotations in the air with the index finger of each hand, "die, leaving you alone to deal with your increasing loneliness in an ever-changing world. I will return in a few days for your answer. This is a one time deal; if you decline, there will be no second chances. "

Before Magnus could respond he was gone; leaving the warlock to wonder if it had happened at all.

Magnus sat in his living room after his father had left. This was not a decision that he would take lightly but also he had to wonder if what Asmodeus had said was true. He sat in his chair, a glass of whiskey in his hand as he tried to make sense of what just happened. He looked up to see Ragnor sitting on his couch, staring intently at him.

"You can't just sit there all day, stewing. You should tell Alexander what happened."

Magnus downed the rest of his drink. "Are you real?" Ragnor just smiled at him. "I thought you were dead." His voice sounded hollow; even to his own ears.

"I will always be here for you, my friend. Have you decided what you're going to do?" Magnus shook his head. "I strongly suggest that you talk to your boyfriend. You love him don't you?"

Magnus nodded. "More then I have ever loved anyone."

Ragnor nodded, "then don't you think that this is something that the two of you should discuss before you decide anything?"

"Of course." When Magnus looked to where his friend had been sitting; the space was empty. He knew that Alec was planning on coming over that night, so he figured that he would talk to Alec them. He was scared, talking about giving up his immortality was one thing—to actually do it; to know that you'll get wrinkles and gray hair and that one day you will no longer he was a scary thought. But if that was something that Alec wanted, he was willing to do it.

So, for the moment, he sat on his couch, lazily petting Chairman and waiting for Alec to arrive home.

Alec wasn't surprised when he came home to find his boyfriend sitting on his couch, drinking scotch while idly making patterns with his magic in the air. Alec watched blue swirls as the lines transformed into a heart, beat once and disappeared.

"Magnus?" Alec's voice sounded unsure.

The whisps of blue that had be trailing from his fingers disappeared. "Alexander. I was hoping you'd be home soon. We don't have a lot of time before your mother drops the kids off and I have something that I would like to discuss with you." Magnus smiled as gently as he could, and patted the spot next to him on the couch.

Alec sat, the worry that he was feeling clearly visible in his blue eyes.

"Don't look so worried Sayang. It's not even half as bad as you think." Magnus turned so he was sitting sideways on the couch and facing Alec, he held both of Alec's hands in his own. "I had a visitor today."

Alec's brow furrowed with confusion. "A client?"

Magnus shook his head. "Not exactly. It was my father."

Alec's look of confusion turned to one of anger. "If he hurt you..."

Magnus shook his head. "No, he didn't hurt me. What he did do was offer me the chance to become mortal; to live a normal life with you. He's giving me the chance to grow old with you."

"But if you gave up your immortality wouldn't you die right away?"

"No. There's a bit of a ritual involved but if I give him my immortality; of my own free-will; he'd agreed to stop my death by slowing the aging process as soon as he has my immortality. I know that you have always struggled with the fact that I'm going to live forever—but now that won't be an obstacle."

Alec sadly shook his head. "As much as I appreciate what you are willing to do for me; but I can't let you. Who knows if Asmodeus is even telling the truth? And even if he is; I need you to be here for Maxwell. He's going to need someone who's going to live just as long as he is, to make sure that he is safe," a tear slowly made its way down Alec's face, "to tell him about me, to make sure that he knows what a loving family he came from."

Magnus closed the gap between them by holding Alexander as close to his chest as he could. "Oh Alexander." He placed a soft kiss somewhere in Alec's hair. "I love you."

Alec hugged Magnus as tight as he could, "I love you too."

They were so wrapped up in each other, they failed to notice Maryse standing in the doorway. She smiled and for the first time realized just how much in love her son really was.


	4. Trying

Jace knew that his parabatai thought that he was in love with Magnus. He wasn't sure, only because Alec had never expressed any interest in dating anyone—male or female—before he met Magnus. Then suddenly he was head over heels for the warlock or the older man had put some sort of spell or curse on him to either trick him or make him feel things that weren't completely genuine.

But then he saw the way that Alec smiled at Magnus—truly smiled—the kind of smile that he'd never seen him use before, it was the type of smile that lit up his entire face. It shocked Jace just to see how happy Alec looked, and all because the warlock just walked into the room.

Now Jace was making his way into the last training room. Alec never used to use that room, that was a relatively new development. That training room was the only one without runes or any other type of angelic marks, which meant it was perfectly safe for Magnus to walk in or out of. He'd thought that Alec was alone in that room.

He walked into the room without knocking, after all it was a training room. Ideally this meant that people were supposed to be training- not sticking his tongue down his boyfriend's throat, clutching at the warlock's clothes like if he let go the warlock would disappear. He was about to clear his throat; to try and get his parabatai's attention when Magnus walked them to the nearest wall, pushing Alec against it, cupping the niphilim's face, kissing softly despite the fierceness of their hands.

Jace couldn't help but smile with the way that Alec's hands gripped Magnus' hips and the way he melted into the older man's touch. The Alec that he knew was not the Alec he grew up with—this wasn't a very bad thing. To Jace it seemed like Alec didn't start living until Magnus came into his life.

He was about to turn around when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Robert looking at the pair. There was a hurt in his eyes that Jace couldn't quite place.

The warlock and the shadow hunter seemed oblivious to their audience as Magnus gripped Alec by his hips, they stopped kissing long enough to look into each other's eyes; they seemed to reach a silent agreement as Alec braced himself against the wall. In a smooth flourished of his arms, he gripped Alec's waist to lift him off the ground, the younger man wrapped his legs around the others waist, while his hands wound themselves in his hair.

Robert grabbed Jace's arm, getting the other man to turn his back on the private scene. "Come Jace—I'm not sober enough for this."

All Jace did was smile. Robert was trying and that was the best and only thing that Jace could ask of the man.


	5. The Academy

Chapter 5: The Academy

Alec had been the head of the Academy in London for a little more than a week. If anyone but Jace were to ask him how he liked it, he would say that whether he liked it or not was not up for question. Jace knew that he was thriving; he'd been nervous at first; but Jace knew that once he got into the swing of things and realized that the academy was really no different than the institute, he'd be fine. Alec was surprised when a representative from the Clave had approached him about leading the academy.

Jace had only smiled. "That really shouldn't surprise you. After all, they want better relations with the downworlders-and everyone knows that you're dating one. That and you're a great shadowhunter. Who better to train the new ones then the best?"

Despite all of that; Alec had been worried. He knew that Magnus couldn't go with him right away-apparently he had to ask the High Warlock of London if he could be there, not to mention finding someone to sit in his place (temporarily) as the High Warlock of Brooklyn. His first worry had been if the High Warlock of London didn't grant him permission; then of course there was the fact that what if the Clave had lied, what if they denied Magnus entry to the academy. He'd fought too hard and been through too much with Magnus for things to sour now. If they were separated now he didn't know what he would do.

And of course there was the backlash which he knew was inevitable. Everyone knew that he was gay and that he was dating a downworlder. He knew that some parents weren't going to be happy with that. He was sure that he would have to sit through more than one meeting defending his qualifications.

It was Jace who pointed out that he wouldn't be alone in any of this. As Parabatai, they couldn't deny Jace entry to the academy. Their bond was considered sacred, to deny him to be where his Parabatai was, would go against everything that the Clave supposedly stood for. That would never happen. Alec wasn't surprised but was less than pleased when he found out that Clary would also be transferring to the academy.

Despite all of this, he was still worried (although if anyone had bothered to ask Jace he would have said that if Alec had nothing to worry about, his brain might explode). So the fact that he was worried was of no surprise to anyone.

The first week that students had started coming in, Alec was quiet. He was trying to complete all of the necessary forms for the influx of students that were expected to arrive. So, Alec was sitting in his office, behind the massive oak desk that was covered in papers with Jace sleeping on the couch, trying not to feel like he was in over his head. When there was a strange whirring noise that caused him to look up from his work.

He looked up to see a portal opening against the wall closest to his desk. He immediately hopped over the desk and assumed a defensive stance; although he was a little confused. He had been under the impression that the academy was protected using the same wards as the institute. This meant that since Alec was head, anyone attempting to portal into the academy would have needed permission from him and should have entered through the main hall. He was also a little concerned because while this happened, Jace stayed asleep. The portal opened with a whiny sort of hum and a brilliant flash of blue. Alec had his seraph blade in his hand immediately-ready to fight anything that would try to harm his sleeping Parabatai.

Magnus stepped out of the portal. "Darling, please tell me that you are not planning on stabbing me with that."

Alec breathed a sigh of relief. He understood now why Jace hadn't stirred; it was clear that Magnus had him under a spell. Magnus closed the gap and stood in front of his shadow hunter; loving the fact that the younger man seemed to relax just knowing that it was him. Magnus took both of Alec's hands in his. "I'm glad to see that I've been missed."

Alec smiled at him, eyes softening as Magnus dropped the glamour, knowing that Alec thought that his eyes were gorgeous. Alec practically melted into the older man as he fitted himself in the crook of his warlock's neck. "I was worried that you wouldn't be able to come."

"Why?" Magnus tightened his grip on the younger man.

"I know that the Clave says that they want better downworlder/shadowhunter relations but I also know that they will stop at nothing to ensure that we're kept apart." Alec had said all of this in one breath. After he finished speaking Magnus realized that the younger man was shaking.

"Alexander, try to calm down. Even if they tried to keep me away from you I would find you. Also I'm the only warlock who will do anything for them so they will want to keep themselves on my good side."

Alec relaxed, inhaling the scent that was uniquely Magnus. For the first time since he agreed to take the position as head of the academy he felt like he could breathe.

Later that afternoon Alec was in the training room with a bunch of the new recruits. He was standing behind them watching as they all practiced their knife throwing. One of the parents of the children was standing near the back wall, with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot impatiently as he scrutinized Alec's technique of both demonstrating and teaching.

Magnus had walked into the room and as soon as he entered all conversation stopped.

The parent who had been watching Alec started walking towards Magnus but was stopped by Alec. "Don't move." Was all Alec said.

Magnus raised an eyebrow as the parents face turned an unsightly shade of red.

"What is that **thing** doing in here?" He questioned as he pointed to where Magnus was standing.

Alec stood at his full height with his arms crossed over his chest. "He's a guest of the academy and he's trying to make sure that all of the children that are here, remain safe."

The man jutted out his chin. "You're not going to making any friends around here if you keep hanging around with filth."

Alec didn't miss a beat, nor did he back down. "I'm not here to make friends; now I suggest you leave before I have to escort you out."

Magnus gave Alec a look, Alec shrugged. Magnus smiled and dropped his glamour. With a snap of his ringed fingers, the disgruntled parent found himself outside of the training room.

Alec faked a scowl. "Magnus, was that really necessary?"

Magnus pulled his shadowhunter close to him. "No one is going to be giving you a hard time."

Alec kissed Magnus' forehead. For the rest of the afternoon Magnus held Alec's hand, and even though Alec had never been a fan of public displays of affection, he didn't mind.


	6. Moving In

Alec used to be terrified of what would happen if his parents ever found out that he was attracted to men, now he was more worried about what they would do if they ever found out that the man that he was in love with was Magnus Bane.

Jace knew both of Alec's secrets, he also knew that Alec would die before he let anyone know. He also knew that he was afraid that the Clave would find out and strip him of his marks, throw him in the mundane world with no means of protecting himself and he'd be killed by the very things that he had once hunted.

But somehow his parents had found out. They didn't report him to the Clave. In a way they did something worse; they offered him an ultimatum. Either he never see Magnus again and start dating a respectible, shadow hunter woman or he leave. He packed a bag, grabbed his bow and he left. He knew that there was no point in saying anything to Jace-he'd know soon enough anyway.

For the first hour he just walked around, he didn't have a particular destination, he was just walking to clear his head. He had no idea what he wanted to do, or where he was going to go. He continued to walk even when it had started to rain.

He had no idea how long he had been walking. All he knew was that when he looked up he was standing in front of Magnus' apartment. He walked up the steps, water dripping from his hair and clothes and his hands were shaking. He was about to turn around and leave when the door opened.

"Alexander?"

It was the way that Magnus said his name that always sent shivers down his spine. "Magnus?" The tone of his voice, showing how unsure he was. "They know."

"I know." His voice was sad.

"They wanted me to stop seeing you. To lie about what I am and how I feel. I can't do that. I don't want a future without you."

Magnus couldn't tell if it was tears or rain drops making Alec's face wet. He stepped out into the rain and hugged the shivering man. "Sayang, let's get you inside where it's warm." He wrapped his arm around the younger man as he guided him into the apartment.

Magnus steered the shivering younger man into the bathroom, with a snap of his fingers the bath tub was filling with warm water. The water wasn't coming from the faucet so Magnus had no need to watch it in order to ensure that the tub would not overflow. He walked over to the dark haired man and carefully stripped him out of his soaking wet clothes. As his skin was exposed Magnus would place a gentle kiss on the goose-bumped flesh. Once Alec was naked, he picked up the younger man and lowered him into the water.

An hour later, Magnus was sitting on the couch with Alec's head in his lap. The television was on low for the background noise as the warlock drew gentle patterns on the boy's back and down his arm. He looked down to realize that his boyfriend was asleep. He smiled at the quiet snore that was coming from his boyfriend, he debated on putting Alec to bed and decided that it wasn't worth the risk of his boyfriend waking up.

Magnus was mildly concerned when he looked down and saw tears making their way silently down his face. He very gently stroked the side of Alec's face, willing him to awake only because he didn't want to physically wake the boy. He knew almost immediately that he'd had no reason to worry. It was almost as if Alec had sensed the change in Magnus' body language, he was suddenly sitting up.

The way that Shadow Hunters normally woke up had always seemed a bit odd to Magnus. When Magnus woke from sleeping, he did this in stages, not just going from sleeping to immediately being awake. With shadow hunters there didn't seem to be a happy medium-either they were awake or they were asleep.

Magnus offered him a gentle smile. "Darling, it's alright."

Alec wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "No, it's not."

Magnus held both of Alec's hands in his own. "I'm not entirely sure what's bothering you but I do know that whatever it is, we'll get through it together. All you need to do is tell me."

Alec shook his head. "I love you Magnus, a lot. But as of right now I have nowhere to live."

Magnus smiled and gestured to the room that they were in. "How about here?"

Alec said nothing for a few very long moments. "Isn't it a little soon?"

Magnus snapped his fingers and there was a key on the table. "No matter what your parents say or do, you will always have a place here. The key is yours, if you want it."

Alec picked up the simple silver key. "Are you asking me to move in?"

Magnus smiled, leaning forward to kiss Alec's forehead. "Only if you want to."

"Yes, I would love to move in with you." Alec couldn't help the cheesy smile that he could feel himself giving. This entire thing with Magnus seemed a bit surreal.

Magnus leaned back against the couch. "Good. No more worries about it then." Magnus would have never told his shadow hunter but Alec was adorably cute when he was cheesy.


	7. The Incident at the Cemetery

Chapter 7: The Incident at the Cemetery

Magnus had repeatedly said that he wanted Alec to know everything about him; that Alec was his future. That being as it was, he wanted to show Alec everything about his past—this included the boiling lake and the well kept tombstones. Magnus didn't explain why these things were important to him, just that they were.

Alec found it slightly odd that Magnus wanted to use the mundane form of transportation known as flying to get to Indonesia but he didn't protest nor did he ask. He knew that Magnus would tell him when he was ready. Alec didn't like the idea of flying, he didn't think that it was safe and he highly doubted that the mundanes had thought this mode of transportation all the way through. It made him nervous but he figured that as long as Magnus was with him he would be fine. He knew that portalling would have been much faster but he also knew that if Magnus needed time, he would make sure that he had it.

After Max's death, Magnus and he had traveled the world. It was Magnus' way of trying to get him to forget about his pain and the accusing looks of his family. It made Magnus angry to even entertain the idea that Alec's parents might blame him for what happened. Why couldn't they understand that Alec was only one person and that he had done the best that he could?

In an attempt not to bring more drama and pain into his Shadow Hunter's life, while he showed Alec all of the places that had meaning to him, he completely skipped Indonesia. He knew that to bring him there would be awkward. Not to mention if he would have brought him to the boiling lake or the tombstones, it was a hot bed for demonic activity...and fighting demons was the last thing that he figured that his Alexander needed. Never mind the fact that he knew that if he were to show up in Indonesia Asmodeus would be there and he was almost certain that Alec had had enough of his father to last awhile.

Now, though he knew that he had to go. There were things that he'd neglected to do and he knew that the longer he put it off, the worse the gnawing feeling would get. This didn't mean that he wanted to go; it had been no secret that every time he went; very bad things happened. That was also why he opted to take mundane transportation; he knew that it would take them awhile to get there. He knew that Alec would have questions but he also knew that he could put off answering them. He knew that his Shadow Hunter would not push the issue.

Magnus was silent for the entire duration of their flight. The only thing that he did was hold Alec's hand, with his glamoured eyes shut. Alec was an ever-present warmth by his side, never moving or speaking. Just letting Magnus be. He knew that if Magnus had something that he needed to tell him, he would.

As soon as the plane landed, Magnus squeezed Alec's hand. Alec thought he detected a tremor in Magnus' grip but let it pass. This was clearly a place that he felt he needed to be but didn't really want to be there.

"Magnus, I just wanted you to know that if you didn't want-"

Magnus cut him off by placing a shaking hand on his chest. "Every decade or so, I make the journey here. It doesn't hurt as much as it had in the past but it is something that I need to do."

Alec nodded, he understood obligation. So he just let Magnus lead him off the plane and down the street. Alec wasn't worried about their luggage he knew that Magnus had already (or more than likely) magicked their luggage to wherever they were staying.

Magnus walked with his head down. Although it had been a decade since he'd walked those streets; he found his way to the cemetery without any assistance. If he was completely honest with himself, it was the lake that made it that easy. Of course, there would be no one left alive that would remember a time when the lake wasn't boiling. This meant that there would no one to yell 'demon' or throw things at him.

Alec could feel the demon activity, it seemed to be coming from the lake in waves. At first Alec said nothing, thinking that possibly because this had been the place where Magnus' magic had manifested, perhaps that was why it was so active. He never stopped to consider anything else.

As soon as they stopped near the edge of the river, Alec could see the fear in his Warlock's eyes, the brown eyes that often looked at him with warmth, were now narrow and golden,slitted like that of a cats. "Mags?"

Magnus willed the wetness to go away. The last thing that he wanted was to appear weak in front of his Shadow Hunter.

Alec could feel the fear emanating off of Magnus. Alec stole a glance at his boyfriend, he would use a lot of words to describe his Warlock but a coward was never one of them. He knew that Magnus had been through a lot. Just the fact that for whatever reason, this lake scared him and yet here they were.

Alec wished that he could make all of Magnus' bad memories fade into nothing but he knew that would never happen; all he could do was be there. He stepped behind his Warlock, wrapping his arms around Magnus' waist, pressing his chest against the other's back. He smiled into Magnus' hair as he felt the other relax..

"Whatever's scaring you, we can face it together." Alec's grip tightened when Magnus turned his head and Alec saw the tears shining in his eyes and making their way down his face.

"Alexander, you're too good to me but you don't even know what it is."

Alec placed a kiss on the top of Magnus' head. "I don't need to know what it is. Just the fact that there is something scaring you, no matter how old it is, no matter what type of creature it is, I will be here."

Magnus turned in Alec's embrace, so that they were facing each other. "This is the lake where my stepfather tried to drown me after my mother committed suicide. As he pushed my head under the water, I tried to scream but the water filled my lungs. I couldn't breathe. I was terrified. I was kicking at the water, trying to push my way to the surface. Just as the last of my breath left my lungs, I thought for sure that I was going to pass out something happened. There were flashes of blue that erupted from my hands—I wasn't exactly sure what happened. All I know that the pressure that had been holding me down was gone. It took me a few minutes to get out of the water. My stepfather was screaming, the blue sparks that had flowed from my hands now surrounded the lake. I got out of the lake, fearful that whatever had got my stepfather would come after me. I hadn't realized that the blue had come from me, all I knew was that my stepfather was no longer screaming and the stench of burnt flesh filled the air. I scrambled onto the bank, as far away from the mess as I could. It was then that Ragnor found me. It didn't spare me from some of the horrors from living on the street but it saved me from being stoned."

Alec tightened his arms around Magnus' waist. He could tell that there was something more that Magnus wanted to say but he also knew that pushing Magnus would get him nowhere, the best thing to do was wait.

Magnus turned away from Alec's embrace, opting to just hold his hand as they walked away from the lake. He walked without looking up, he didn't stop walking until they were standing in front of two neatly kept graves. The first thing that Alec noticed was despite their neatly kept appearance they were so old that the names and dates were illegible.

"She never knew that it was Asmodeus that she had sex with and not her husband. When I was born, all she knew was that I had unusual amber coloured eyes. It wasn't until I was about four years old that they changed in shape and became more like that of a cats. She couldn't live with the guilt that she had given birth to such a monstrosity,so she committed suicide. I've made it my duty to care for the graves of my mother and stepfather; to prove that I can be a good son."

Before Alec could respond he had a seraph blade in his hand. At first Magnus didn't understand, he had just shared something deeply personal with Alec, he didn't understand Alec's reaction until Asmodeus spoke.

"Well, isn't that tragic." As usual his tone spoke of his boredom.

Alec narrowed his eyes, "You need to leave."

"Do I child?" His smile was menacing.

Magnus put his hand on Alec's shoulder. "Sayang, it's not worth it. Don't give him anything to work with."

Asmodeus for the most part acted as if Magnus hadn't spoken. Magnus knew this particular tactic of his, it was yet another one of his ploys to cause Magnus pain.

"Do you really think that a half demon half human creature can really be a good son?" Asmodeus stepped closer to Magnus, but before he could say anything Alec stepped in between Magnus and Asmodeus.

"Take one more step and I'll send you back to your own dimension." Alec said through gritted teeth, making sure that his seraph blade was well in Asmodeus' line of sight.

"Nephilim, silly nephilim. Sooner or later you will see the error of your choosing. This creature is not worth your attention."

Alec stood at his full height, his seraph blade pointed right at Asmodeus' chest. "Let's get one thing clear Demon. Magnus Bane is not a creature. He is not a half breed. He is a man. He happens to be the man that I love. I will protect him, no matter what from, for as long as he needs it. Magnus does not belong to you, he's mine." Without another word, with movements so fast that Magnus barely saw them Alec plunged his seraph blade into Asmodeus' chest. The demon was expelled in a thick black cloud of smoke.

Alec looked back at Magnus who had fallen to the ground, his head in his hands. Alec noticed, almost immediately that he was shaking. He knelt down beside his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his shaking form, holding him tightly. Alec didn't know if there was anything that he could say to make Magnus feel better.

Alec had no idea how long they sat on the ground. He knew that it had been awhile, his legs had gone stiff and there was a burning sensation in his back but he didn't say anything. If this was what Magnus needed, this was what he would do.

Magnus carefully stood up, bringing his shadow hunter boyfriend with him. "I'm sorry Alexander. I should have known that he would show up."

"It's alright Mags. Whenever he shows up, we'll be here to face him together." As they walked out of the cemetery holding hands, for the first time in a long time Magnus felt as if things would really be okay.


	8. To Be a Sleepy Shadow Hunter

p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Alec had been out late with Jace, it was supposed to be a routine mission: find the demon, kill the demon. Alec had came in over three hours later, covered in demon yuck and still on the adrenaline rush that usually came with killing something. However, after a bath, a hot cup of tea and something to eat, he was left sleepy. Magnus had just put Alec safely in their bed when there was a knock on the door. He opened the door to find Cat standing there, a knowing look on her face./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""Cat. Come in." He stepped aside to let her by. She perched herself on one side of his couch./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""You forgot, didn't you?" Her tone was light and there was a knowing look in her eye. She had known Magnus for years; sometimes it seemed too many while at other times it appeared as not not enough. Magnus rolled his eyes at her in mock annoyance, however before he could even get a word out, a portal appeared against the far wall and Ragnor Fell stepped into Magnus' brightly lit living room./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""Even if Magnus has forgotten, you know as well as I that he will never admit to such a thing." He eyed Magnus' living room suspiciously, as if the décor was going to bite him. "You redecorated...again."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Magnus shook his head. "Life is too short to be stuck with the same décor during every season." Magnus perched himself on a overstuffed armchair and was just thankful that when Ragnor finally chose a spot to sit down, Magnus was just relieved that Ragnor hadn't said anything about the curious blue flowers that were in a vase on a nearby table. "Now that everyone is here, I have taken the liberty of ordering some Chinese. I hope that is agreeable." Magnus had said this in the hopes of convincing his company that he hadn't forgotten about their plans to meet up, and it might have worked. Except for the fact that Magnus' idea of 'ordering Chinese' was just a snap of his fingers as he summoned the dishes from one of his favourite restaurants./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Cat just smiled knowingly. She knew that his shadow hunter was upstairs sleeping and Ragnor shook his head. He had seen Magnus in love before but never quite like this. Ever since Camille, Magnus had held everyone, even his lovers at a distance—never letting them fully into his heart but that was before he had met Alec, this shadow hunter seemed to have slipped past his well placed defences and had rooted himself in Magnus' heart. He just hoped that the shadow hunter would have the good sense not to hurt the warlock. He saw how long it had taken Magnus to recover from Camille, if Alexander had a hidden agenda or was just using Magnus for something, he wasn't sure that Magnus would be able to come back from that unscathed./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"***/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"After the last of their supper had been eaten, the three warlocks were seated in the living room with cocktails discussing everything and nothing. Magnus had thought that it had been too long since he had been in the company of the two and he could breathe easy knowing that this was purely a social visit without any of the urgency that normally occurred when warlocks assembled together. He was seated on the couch,listening to Ragnor recount some atrocity that he had had with an Ostrich. He was only half listening, the other part of him was listening for sounds of his shadow hunter. He had known that Alec was exhausted when he had come home but Magnus also knew that Alec was also unaccustomed to sleeping by himself. This was proven true when Alec slowly and silently left their bedroom in favour of finding his warlock./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Ragnor had stopped mid-sentence when a tired shadow hunter (although Magnus had his suspicions that Alec was not completely awake) appeared in the living room, seemingly coming from no where. Magnus just patted the spot beside him on the couch. Alex graciously sank onto the cushions, at first resting his head on Magnus' shoulder. Magnus placed his cocktail on the table and laced his fingers with Alec's. As their conversation continued, Cat chuckled when she realized that the young man was slowly sliding down Magnus' side until his head was resting in Magnus' lap. She hardly thought that Magnus wouldn't notice the slight line of drool that was puddling under the young man's mouth and onto his pants./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Ragnor had noticed this as well, arching an eyebrow. It didn't escape Magnus' attention that his friends were staring at him. He also knew why. "Stop gawking." Magnus said to the others. His hand waved at them dismissively but his tone was light. "If I put him back to bed, he'll just be back here anyway. And it isn't as if either one of you has never drooled before."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Cat shook her head, "no however, this would be the first time that you have allowed yourself to be seen with someone else's drool on your clothes. We all know what a diva you can be Magnus." She chided./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Alec moved even closer to Magnus, if that were even possible, turning his face so that it was half hidden by Magnus' leg. Magnus on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on and he gently carded his hand through the young man's hair, massaging his scalp as he did so. Alec snuggled closer against Magnus and seemed to calm./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Ragnor was trying to read their reactions. The way that the younger man seemed to calm at his friends touch, the way his friend seemed oblivious to what he was doing and his only concerned has seemed to be for the younger man's comfort. The way that Magnus gently moved his hand from the boy's hair to the side of his face, eventually resting his hand on the side of the younger man's neck and the fact that once the boy seemed to completely relax, falling back into a peaceful sleep, Magnus' entire body seemed to relax as well. Ragnor had known right then that Magnus was in love with this shadow hunter, not in lust. And when something did happen to the boy, he would have to be there to glue Magnus' shattered pieces back together./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Cat seemed to have sensed the same thing. "I think that Ragnor and I should go. It seems that your shadow hunter would have you to himself tonight." Her smile was kind, there was no malice in her voice only amusement./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Magnus nodded, as his two friends made to leave. After the living room was empty, he gently picked up Alec, who, although didn't wake up, also put his arms around the warlocks neck. As Magnus tucked him safely back in bed and got in beside him, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was. He curled his body around the younger man, as the younger sighed heavily and rested his head in the crook of Magnus' neck. Magnus fell asleep dreaming of blue eyes as he listened to the soft breathing of his love./p 


End file.
